Cars are big, loud, unwieldy, and restricted to clearly defined spaces; people are small, quiet, agile, and not nearly so restricted. Someone negligently entering traffic on foot poses an extreme hazard to others, to say nothing of the risk to themselves, not only by virtue of being a heavy, fairly solid object capable of inflicting serious damage on a vehicle unable to avoid them (as well as its passengers), but also because forcing vehicles to make a last minute course adjustment to avoid a negligent pedestrian poses a serious risk to pedestrians on the side of the road, other nearby vehicles on the road, and the occupants of the swerving car.

It's perfectly sensible to outlaw negligently endangering others by wandering through traffic; the only real problem is when someplace decides to extend it to any pedestrian entrance onto a road outside designated crossing areas, not merely those instances which pose a safety hazard. It's kind of like the difference between states/cities banning drunk and disorderly conduct (understandable and justified) and states/cities criminalizing public intoxication (stupid as shit).